[C] Ceres serves it Sunny-Side-Up !

Myself and Jani received a short notice invite to go and visit friends in Ceres the past weekend. It didn't take a lot of persuasion for us to quickly pack some clothes, to hook the panniers onto the GS and for me to twist the throttle in any given direction.

Here is a short writeup written by Jani about our quick weekend ride to Ceres. Unfortunately whe had to stick to the dread full black stuff called tar and no gravel roads were injured in the writing of this trip report

… So Seriously, why Ceres?

When you live in the Western Cape and your nose points to adventure and dirt road, you will almost, always find your way to a garage in Ceres to fill up before heading to Gydo Pass or Tankwa Karoo.

We travel too and through this beautiful town so often that we rarely give it credit for its endless rock mountain tops and beautiful orchards and friendly residents.

Did you know that Ceres was named after the Roman goddess of agriculture, this does seem quite well suited considering the area is extremely fertile and some major producers of our fruit and vegetables come from this area. The orchards create flowing-like oceans on either side of the road. While you are enjoying the silence in your helmet. It’s like watching the discovery channel on mute with a window open.

Knowing that our solo trip to Vioolsdrift is just around the corner, opportunity for time in the saddle is becoming limited and now we have to make the most of every chance we get to sit, and sit, and sit and maybe stand now and again.

Heading to Ceres to spend the weekend with friends seemed once again an appropriate time to sit and sit and sit.

The weather was once again perfect as ordered. The sun proudly showed off as we headed over Du Toit’s Kloof pass and took the more scenic road through Slanghoek from there. This beautiful road also never gets old. It rides beautifully, and we all get tempted to put foot here, or extend the right hand wrist action a teensy bit more.

We stopped off at Calabash Bush Pub in Bains Kloof to have something to eat. After being almost totally destroyed by the fire in November 2016, the restaurant still has some work to do, to be able to get back to a state of being fully operational. Despite the structure devastation, the pizza is still epic and the wet for the throat serves its purpose well indeed.

Enjoying the quick dash through the beautiful Michell’s pass we stopped at our home for the night in Ceres. Having good souls to share a fire and good food with makes any small town feel like home. We traded the bike gear for shorts and t-shirts and that was a perfect ending to another grateful day on our beautiful roads.

Sunday morning’s sunshine peaked through the blinds, and it was an open invitation to take on the mountains of Ceres. We enjoyed the fresh air and hills that the trail had to offer us on the 13km hike making our discoveries at the Ceres Koekedouw Dam. The dam water levels once again became a topic of conversation and concern. The dam is currently at 42%. Despite the despair of it all, I couldn’t help but be joyful in these moments, winter has been grey and very cold, and here I was served with a buffet of sunshine, beautiful views and blue skies.

We enjoyed a lovely brunch together, and got ready to make tracks again. It is always a somber feeling greeting friends we don’t see often enough.

Having a quick stop at the small ‘’Hill billy’’ padstal on our way out over the ‘’wit brug’’ , I was too curious just to pass. This little padstal is a must if you love anything that is Karoo and Tankwa. It has little ‘’Kakkies Vir Rakkies’’ as Carel would politely put it.

We chose the legendary Bain’s Kloof home, Mr Thomas Bain was really an artist of roads. Riding cliff side, it’s a canvas that accompanies the little white rocks on the tar.

Dropping into the valley near Wellington, the fire scars on nature’s skin is still there. The rain hasn’t been enough to wash away evidence of the burns.

Our last stop, is somewhat a of tradition for us. The famous Paarl de Ville. This local pub restaurant is really one of our favorites. We ended off another good time and safe journey on the GS in good taste.

Heading back through Durbanville, Carel let me extend my right wrist on the throttle by taking his hand away. Over the interkom, I know he was talking about ”how to?’’, admittedly the reaction of the engine to the movement of my wrist was the only sound I was paying attention too.

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